Seussical Reviews

From The House Seats website​Last night, I had the opportunity once again to see one of my favourite musicals performed by a local company.​To me, Seussical is an odd phenomenon that seems to pass a lot of people by (perhaps due to it never having a UK professional outing) but when anyone hears it for the first time, they instantly love it. It's hard not to love such a whimsical musical, which covers more Dr. Seuss stories and characters than I would care to count. The main bulk of the story follows Horton The Elephant as he hears a Who and tries desperately to save them, despite the rest of the Jungle of Nool thinking he's crazy. There is one characters however, Gertrude McFuzz, who not only believes Horton but is equally desperate in trying to get him to notice her even though she only has one droopy feather in her tail. Narrating all of this is the Cat in The Hat, pushing the story along and quite literally pushing the character of Boy into the middle of Who-ville and the middle of the story. Reading the programme (which is very nice by the way), it was interesting to read director John Harries Rees has experience directing experimental improvisation, so I was prepared for a very kooky world of Seuss. However, what we got was a very precisely staged show that created the Jungle and Who-ville and the circus with great accuracy. Choreographer Louise E. Wilson and Assistant Choreographer Karen Ward created some very distinct numbers that began to emulate the full body movements of Dr. Seuss's characters. I personally particularly enjoyed the movements of the Bird Girls who, donned up in the their feathers, chassed and preened their way across the stage in almost perfect time.Leatherhead Operatic took the decision to cast Jojo, the small Who boy, as a small Who girl which, besides for a few small changes to lyrics only the die hard fans among us would notice, worked perfectly. Zoe Burton (sorry Zoe, I can't work out how to add an umlaut in my browser!) has an amazing ability to look in total wonder at what is happening around her. She always appeared thoughtful, dreamy, and in awe of the story which really helped draw the audience into this odd little tale.Propelling her around the stage was Matt Howes as the The Cat, who really amped up the excitement in the moments he engaged with the audience. He was a more still, stayed Cat than my preference, but his charm made him likable and amusing. Tom Paine as Horton the Elephant sounded perfect, doleful and a bit lonely, with 'Alone in the Universe' between him and Burton a very sweet moment.Millie Jane Franks as Sour Kangaroo was suitably soulful and fierce as anything. Her change at the end to support Horton was handled well, as it could so easily seem rushed when the character so swiftly changes her mind. While discussing Sour Kangaroo, now seems the opportune moment to mention the costumes. I say this because one of my favourite things on stage visually was Franks' hair, twirled into two vertical shafts perched on her head. Costumes in general were visually exciting and cast a definite difference between the world of the jungle animals and the world of the Whos. Costume designer Michele Jordan did well to keep the humanity of the people playing as animals, for example Horton wore a grey boiler suit, so that they remained relatable to us. A stand out for me was Jo Cullen as Gertrude McFuzz. Every moment she appeared on stage contained well crafted movement and well thought out delivery. I read in the programme she played as Glinda in The Wizard of Oz last year for LOS, and it's worthwhile coming back to another Leatherhead production just to see Cullen perform again as she seems to be 'a regular'.There was one things that did disappoint me in this production and that is the absence of a low voice singing in The Wickershams and as The Grinch and Yurtle the Turtle. I missed the low bass-y notes that contrast so well with the higher voices, giving us the timbre of all the animals that are lumbering and flitting around the jungle. That does not mean that I did not enjoy these characters, just as a fan of a show it felt very definitely that something was missing.One thing Leatherhead would benefit from for this production going forward is to ramp up the excitement levels. Seussical is odd. Some of it only just about makes sense. Performers have to really sell it to an audience to get them to buy into it, and you can never have enough enthusiasm as a performer in this show. My opinion is that it comes down to what performers are wanting to convey to the audience and what the audience is going to expect before curtain up. In a story about imagination, about morals, about thinking the widest thinks you've ever thunk before, the pace has to keep up, the performers have to be bouncing around the stage to really sock it to the audience. This is a very personal response and could be looked at by focusing more on the naturalistic connection to character by the actors as it is all to easy to get swept away in the oddness of Seuss. I very much enjoyed my evening watching Seussical. I'm still singing the songs now and I expect I will be for the majority of the next week. If I could squeeze it into my day, I'd be going to watch it again this evening. Leatherhead Operatic has done well with this mile-a-minute show. It's deceptively hard to do but LOS has made it into something sweet. happy-go-lucky, and lovely.

LEATHERHEAD OPERATIC SOCIETY"SEUSSICAL" The Leatherhead Theatre - 2nd December, 2016This rather complicated story from the pen of Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss) was a somewhat unusual and challenging choice for L.O.S. 's main autumn show. However, because they can boast a real depth of talented players, many of them young or very young, together with a few highly experienced ones, the standard achieved vindicated the choice of show. Moreover, L.O.S. have a supreme production team once again in charge; John Harries Rees as Director, Colin Copestake as Musical Director and Louise E Wilson as choreographer, ably assisted by Karen Ward.A stage set of four metal platforms, one high up and across stage at the back, a large central square one dominant up centre, with two smaller rectangular ones downstage left and right, carried the action throughout. With his usual skilful staging and clever use of lighting from the splendid Richard Pike and his team alongside the highly able Stuart Vaughan and his team on sound, John created the many Seussian worlds without the need for constant set changes and thus the show ran seamlessly from one scene to the next.A huge plus for this show were the fabulous costumes designed and created by the amazing Michele Jordan. The costumes were so artfully designed for all the various characters. Horton the Elephant had large flapping grey ears and a grey outfit, for example; The Cat in the Hat had a magnificent red / white striped tall hat; The marvellous feathers on the Bird Girls, Gertrude McFuzz and Maysie La Bird created stunning effects. Michele was ably assisted by Diane Pratt and Sarah B. Julie Rawson was on Wardrobe, with make up by Michelle with Heather Rigg. Hair wonderfully styled too - was by Miss P Percookie and Miss A.Annee. Props were by Tracey Gillardand the props were really well made. I loved the egg and the hatchling All these painstaking ladies made a major contribution to the wonderful look of the characters on stage. From very many grateful comments I heard from company (and audience) after the show, these opinions were shared by all.I will not outline the plot in this review, suffice to say that the programme's synopsis in fine (though clear) print was the most detailed I have seen.There were many outstanding performers, none better than the totally charismatic, energetic and magnificent Matt Howes as The Cat In the Hat. I awarded him top marks in every category.Zoë Burton, at only fourteen, shone as Jojo. She clearly has talent and I will watch out for her in years to come.Tom Paine beautifully captured the warm hearted Horton The Elephant and really was the character. Through all his troubles and trials we in the audience rooted for him. Clearly he is an accomplished actor / singer.I loved the performance of Jo Cullen as the "one feathered tail" Gertrude McFuzz. Her empathy with Horton when the jungle creatures turned on him and her efforts to be noticed by him - Notice me Horton- were acted and sung with emotional power.Helen Newhall at only sixteen showed maturity way beyond her tender years as Maysie La Bird and sang nicely too. Her scenes with the charismatic Bird Girls (Sammy Howlett, Philippa Kennedy and Philippa Stone) - gorgeously clad in orange, green and white feathers - in "Amayzing Mayzie" and with The Cat in "How Lucky You Are (reprise)", graced the stage with some wonderful dancing.Millie Jane Franks, puppet handed, was an excellent Sour Kangaroo. Her "Biggest Blame Fool" taunting poor Horton really caught the eye.Jojo's parents Mr and Mrs Mayor, played by Barry Stevens and Jo Pandolfi respectively, were splendid and their song "How to raise a Child" skilfully enacted and well sung.Paul Hyde gave us a formidable General Genghis Khan Schmitz, together with his orderly "soldiers" in the military.James Gaffney, Louis Hook, Ben Leed, Daniel Pitcher were the wicked and "monkeying around" Wickersham Brothers, clad in smart bow-tied waiters' costumes. Four likely lads these, with their "boy band looks" and polished group performance.Gerald Taylor did well as The Grinch as did Oli Newhall as the judge, Yertle The Turtle.A team of mostly young people played The Who, tiny and invisible to all save Horton. Their joint shout of "YOPP" being unexpectedly loud enough to be heard by all and thus save themselves. Their big scene and number was "Here On Who" in which they captured the hearts of we in the audience in charming style. The Who were:-Isa Anderson Molly HaynesPeter Barnett Amelia HulbertAmelia Cox Ann-Marie Martin ColesErin Gaffney Gabriella PearceCharlotte Harris Lucy Stevens Rebecca HarrisThe musical content, especially bearing in mind the youth of many of the company, was of high standard. Two particular favourites of mine were Alone in the Universe (Horton and Jojo/Tom and Zoe) and Solla Sollew with some beautiful harmonies by many players. High praise then for Colin Copestake for achieving such a standard. The vibrantly energetic dancing throughout was perhaps what will linger longest in the memory. Louise E. Wilson has worked wonders with this talented company who all looked, sang, acted and danced as though their very lives depended upon it. John Harries-Rees as show director is a truly special show visionary and his seamless fast moving production, with pathos, humour and so much else besides brought this charming though complicated plot into a thrilling reality.Jon FoxNODA District 19